ABSTRACT
The food industry is one of the largest employers of workers exposed to numerous allergens that are capable of inducing immunological reactions resulting in allergic disease. The largest food-handling population is employed in the agricultural sector followed by the food manufacturing and processing industry that employs workers involved in a broad spectrum of occupations. In the occupational setting, hazardous constituents of food products enter the body either through inhalation or dermal contact resulting in adverse reactions on an irritant or allergic basis. Various work processes are employed in the food industry that produce wet aerosols and dust particulates that are capable of being inhaled and causing allergic reactions. Various epidemiological studies and case reports indicate that ocular-nasal symptoms and allergic rhinitis are commonly encountered in food exposed workers. Occupational allergy can arise as a result of de novo occupational inhalation of food products containing single or multiple allergens.
